Metal-rubber dipping form



April 11, 1950 I A, E 5|DNELL 2,503,358

METAL-RUBBERDIPPING FORM Filed Feb. 14, 1948 2 Sheets-sheaf, 1

IN VEN TOR. A 155 5 5/04 54;

Aprii M, 3950 A. E. SHDNELL 1 2,503,358

METAL-RUBBER DIFPlT-ZG FORM Filed Feb. 14, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V ENTOR.

Patented Apr. 11. 1950 METAL-RUBBER DIPPING FORM Albert E. Sidnell,Akron, Ohio, assignor to Seiberling Latex Products Co., Akron, Ohio, acorporation of Ohio Application February 14, 1948, Serial No. 8,350

(Cl. 18.-f11) 8 Claims. 1

This invention relates to an improved dipping form.

In the dipping of rubber articles by immersing a form into a latex orcement of rubber, either natural or synthetic, it is customary to use arigid form. Aluminum, glass or porcelain is usually employed. The formmay be hollow or solid. Forms of other materials have been suggestedincluding forms of rubber but the latter have proved expensive fordipping toys and the like. Rigid forms, although satisfactory for thedipping of certain objects, are not entirely satisfactory because of thebreakage which runs high with forms having appendages, etc., and becauseof the diificulty of stripping the dipped articles from forms other thanthose of simple contour.

The form of this invention is made in part of a rigid material andincludes at least one appendage or the like made of a flexible material.There is no danger of such an appendage becoming broken when subjectedto ordinary handling; and because of its flexibility a dipped articlemay be stripped from a form having such an appendage with relative ease,whereas it would be difficult or impossible to strip it from a rigidform of the same contour. This will be more evident as the descriptionproceeds. The invention will be further described in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 shows a form for the body of agiraffe;

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail of a portion of the form shown in Fig. 2;"Fig. 4 is the form for the head of the giraffe;

Fig. 5 illustrates one way of joining the head and body of the giraffe;

Fig. 6 is a side view of the finished toy;

Fig. '7 is a view of the same in section showing the interior of thefinished toy;

Fig. 8 is a form for dipping a rat with a curved tail;

Fig. 9 is a View of the finished rat;

Fig. 10 is a detail of parts of a form for a rat with a straight tail;

Fig. 11 is a view of the finished rat;

Fig. 12 is a form for dipping the body of a monkey;

Fig. 13 is a form for dipping the head of the same;

Fig. 14 illustrates the finished monkey;

Fig. 15 is a form for dipping the body of a doll;

Fig. 16 is a form for dipping the head of the same;

Fi shows h ni heddq nd.

Fig. 1a illustrates the stripping of the deposit from the form shown inFig. 15.

A part of each of the forms illustrated is made of metal or other rigidmaterial and a part isv made of rubber or other flexible material. Aslatex dipping has largely superseded dipping in a rubber cement thespecification will refer more particularly to latex dipping although itis un-.v

derstood that the forms of this invention can be used in any suitabledipping composition. When any of the forms is dipped in latex-or thelike, a part of the rubber deposits on the rigid portion of the form anda part deposits on the In strippingthe deposit;

for example, made entirely of a rigid material.

In referring to the drawings, the invention will be described moreparticularly in connection with the formation of a girafielbut it is tobe understood that the description referring thereto is illustrativeonly. The reference to the method of dipping, etc., is likewiseillustrative and the.

invention is not limited thereto.

Fig. 1 shows a form for dipping the body DQI" The shank 1.

tion of a girali'e or like animal. and body 2 are made of aluminum orother rigid material. The legs 3, 4, 5 and 6 and the tail '1 are allformed of rubber. The rigid portions or.

the mold may be solid or hollow. The rubber portions will ordinarily besolid and quite flexible. although having sufficient body to retaintheir.

shape during dipping. Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate a rear view of the form.The rubber button ill which is molded as an integral part of the leg 6is squeezed into the opening I I provided in the metal body portion 2.tersunk into the metal form in any suitable man ner. Usually the rubberportion of the mold be cemented to the metal portion at the interface inaddition to being anchored to it by a button or like device. cementingmay be used without other anchoring means and other an-,

choring means (for example such as illustrated in Fig. 10) may be usedwithout cementing. Any suitable means for attaching the rubber to themetal may be employed.

The metal body 2 in addition to providing cavities H for the legsincludes a cavity 13 for The opening II is .coun-..

insertion of a button molded into the rubber tail 1. Thus the rigid body2 is formed integrally with the shank The legs and tail of the animalare separately formed of rubber and are united to the rigid portion ofthe form in any suitable manner. The shank is provided with a tappedopening |5 at the top or other suitable means for fastening it to arack. Ordinarily, a multiplicity of such molds will be fastened to therack for simultaneous dipping.

The latex or solution into which the form is dipped may be of anysuitable composition. It contains sulfur or other curing agent. Anydipping process may be employed, such as one which involves the previoustreatment of the mold with coagulant, etc.

The rack with the forms fastened to it will be dipped one or more timesinto the dipping composition and then will be dried and heated to curethe rubber deposit. After curing the deposit will be stripped from theform. This deposit will cover not only the rubber appendages and rigidportion 2 of the mold but will likewise come up part way over the shankIn removing the deposit it is necessary to stretch the opening formed bythe shank (herein called the shank opening) to the greatest distancerequired to remove it from the form. For example, if the form were rigidit would be necessary to stretch the shank opening in the rubber depositsufficiently to spread it over all four legs in their extended position.By making the legs of the form of flexible material they may all bebrought together during stripping and little or no stretching of theshank opening will be required in removing the deposit from the legs.

In stripping the deposit from the form it will usually be turned insideout, at least in part. The next operation, therefore, is to return it tothe right-side-out condition by air pressure or otherwise. This iscommon practice at the present time. The neck is then trimmed to asuitable distance above the dividing line between the shank and thebody.

The form 20 for the head is similarly dipped, cured and removed from themold. Appendages such as the ears or horns may be made of rubber toreduce breakage. After curing and turning right side out, and trimmingthe neck to the desired length, the two deposits are united. There areseveral methods of doing this which are well known in the art. Fig. 5illustrates a small block of wood 25 to which the lower part of thedeposit 26 stripped from the neck is cemented. Then the portion 21 fromthe body of the animal is brought up over the bottom of the neck portionand the two are cemented together. This produces the completed animal 30shown in Fig. 6. It may be colored or decorated in any suitable manner.

Before uniting the head and body portions it is often desirable to stuffthe deposit so that the toy will retain its shape. Fig. 7 illustratesthe body portion with the legs filled with sawdust 3| and made rigid bybamboo strips 32. Sawdust would be pretty heavy and compact for the bodyso kapok is often used for this purpose. Stuffing is conventional in theart and any of the usual means and methods may be employed.

Fig. 8 shows a form for dipping a rat. The body 40 and shank 4| are madeof aluminum or other rigid material. The tail 42 is of flexible materialsuch as rubber. It is fastened into the rear of the rigid body by arubber button 43 of the type previously described.

Fig. 9 shows the finished rat. In dipping, the

latex is permitted to come up around the base of the shank 4| and aftercuring (and stuffing, if desired) this extension of the deposit istrimmed and finished 01f in any usual manner. A sealing plug of rubberor other suitable material will generally be employed, and this maycontain a whistle. Fig. 9 illustrates the finished toy.

Fig. 10 illustrates a different method of uniting a flexible appendageto a rigid form. Th body 50 of the rat is provided with the tapped hole5|. The rubber tail 52 is molded with the metal screw inset 53. Thisinset is screwed into the tapped hole 5|. Ordinarily no adhesive will berequired. The rubber appendage will wear more rapidly than the rigidportion of the mold and may easily be replaced as required. Fig. 11shows the finished rat with straight tail. If the form for such a toywere made entirely of rigid material the breakage of the tail would bequite considerable and the cost of replacement would run high.

Fig. 12 shows the form for molding the body of a monkey. It includes theshank 50 and the rigid body portion 6|. The arms 62 and 63 are offlexible material, as is the tall 64. The feet also may be made ofrubber although this is not necessar if they are not spread very farapart. To reduce breakage, they may be made of flexible materialregardless of their position. In stripping the deposit from this form,the legs and tail will be pressed toward the body and in removin thedeposit from the tail it will straighten out. Fig. 13 shows a form 65for the head. The head and body, after being separately formed and cured(and also stufied, if desired) will be united in any usual manner, andFig. 14 shows the finished toy. A collar 61 may be added after unitingthe head to the body to cover the line of demarkation between the two.The string 68 may be united to the collar by a ring or other suitablemeans.

Fig. 15 shows the form for dipping the body of a doll. It includes theshank l0 and the body portion both of which are made of aluminum orother rigid material. The arms 12 and 13 are made of flexible material.The legs likewise may be of flexible material, although this is notneces-' sary if they are not spread far apart. The head 14 is madeseparately and the two are united to form the finished doll shown inFig. 17

Fig. 18 illustrates the method of stripping the,

cured deposit from the form shown in Fig. 15. The shank opening or edgeof the deposit 9| is stretched as it is brought down over the body, andthe flexible arm members 12 and 13 will be straightened out and pressedto the rigid body portion to minimize the stretchin of the shankopening. After the deposit has been removed the arms 72 and 13 of theform will return to their normal position shown in Fig. 15. The deposit90 will be turned right side out, and stuffed if desired, and thenunited to the head.

The various illustrations are not to be considered as in any waylimiting the scope of the invention. They illustrate the formation of anarticle as a single unit, or by separately dipping the.

parts which are later united. They illustrate means for uniting aflexible portion of a form to a rigid portion, but these are not beconsidered in a limiting sense as other means for uniting such parts maybe employed. The invention includes any form, a portion of the surfaceof which is of rigid material with another portion of the surface offlexible material.

The invention is defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A form which comprises a body portion and at least one appendageextending therefrom, for dipping into latex and the like, the appendagebeing formed at least in part of flexible rubbery material and said bodyportion being formed of metal, the flexible rubbery material beingfastened to said metal so that the rubbery material and metal areexposed for contact with the latex and the like during the dippingoperation.

2. A form for dipping into latex and the like, the form being for a partof the body of an animal and its tail, at least most of said tail beingmade of flexible material and removably fastened to the body part whichis made of rigid non-rubbery material.

3. A form for dipping into latex and the like, the form being for a partof the body of an animal with a curved tail, at least the curved portionof said tail being made of flexible rubbery material and at least aportion of the body part being made of metal, said rubbery materialbeing fastened to the metal portion of the form.

4. A form for dipping into latex and the like, the form being for atleast a part of an animal with a leg extending from a body portion, atleast most of the body portion being made of metal,

and at least a portion of the leg being made of flexibl rubbery materialand removably fastened to the metal portion of the form.

5. A form for dipping into latex and the like, the form being for atleast a part of an animal with an arm extending therefrom, at least aportion of the form being made of metal, at least a portion of the armbeing made of flexible rubbery material and being removably fastened tosaid metal.

6. A form which comprises a body portion and at least one appendageextending therefrom, for dipping into latex and the like, the appendagebeing formed at least in part of flexible rubbery material and said bodyportion being formed of metal, the flexible rubbery material beingremovably fastened to the metal so that the rubbery material and themetal are exposed for contact with the latex and the like during thedipping operation.

7. A form which comprises a body portion and at least one appendageextending therefrom, for dipping into latex and the like, the appendagebeing formed at least in part of flexible rubbery material and said bodyportion being formed of rigid non-rubbery material, the flexible rubberymaterial being fastened to the non-rubbery material so that both therubbery material and the non-rubbery material are exposed for contactwith the latex and the like during the dipping operation.

8. A form which comprises a body portion and at least one appendageextending therefrom, for dipping into latex and the like, the appendagebeing formed at least in part of flexible rubbery material, and saidbody portion being formed of rigid non-rubbery material, the flexiblerubbery material being removably fastened to the nonrubbery material sothat both the-rubbery material and the non-rubbery material are exposedfor contact with the latex and the like during the dipping operation.

ALBERT E. SIDNELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 21,094 Brating May 23, 1939791,774 Gregory June 6, 1905 1,994,317 Linscott Mar. 12, 1935 2,053,371Lee Sept. 8, 1936 2,238,833 Tillotson Apr. 15, 1941 2,389,009 TillotsonNov. 13, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 345,770 Great BritainAug. 6, 1931

